The limestone at this locality (actually an impure metamorphosed magnesian limestone), discovered by Ensign James Noyes, was worked here beginning in 1697 -- the first "lime quarry" in colonial Massachusetts. Before this time, lime used for mortar for construction purposes was derived from oyster and clam shells.
According to De Alcedo et al. (1812): "In a quarry of limestone here is found the
asbestos, or incorruptible cotton, as it is sometimes called."
Parker Cleaveland, the famous American geologist and mineralogist, first collected minerals here in June, 1811. (Woods, 1860).
See also the nearby
Devil's Basin locality.
References:Morse, Jedidiah (1792): The American Geography, 2nd ed. (London: John Stockdale), p. 183.
De Alcedo, Antonio; George Alexander Thompson, Aaron Arrowsmith (1812): The geographical and historical dictionary of America and the West Indies, p. 232.
Cleaveland, Parker (1816): An Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology (Boston: Cummings and Hilliard), p.153.
Robinson, Samuel (1825). A Catalogue of American Minerals, With Their Localities, p. 63.
Cushing, Caleb (1826): The History and Present State of the Town of Newburyport (Newburyport: E. W. Allen), p. 38.
Hitchcock, Edward (1835): Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts.
Woods, Leonard (1860): Address of the Life and Character of Parker Cleaveland, LL.D., 2nd ed. (Boston: Joseph Griffin), p. 39.
Wadsworth, M. Edward (1878): On the So-Called
Tremolite of Newbury, Mass. (Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 19:251).
Crosby, William O. (1880): Contributions to the Geology of Eastern Massachusetts. (Occasional papers of the Boston Society of Natural History, Volume 3)
McDaniel, B.F. (1884): Geology and Mineralogy of Newbury in
Bulletin of the Essex Institute, volume XV.
Crosby, W. O. and Greely, James T. (1888):
Vesuvianite From Newbury, Mass. MIT Technology Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 407-408.
Sears, John Henry (1894): Geological and Mineralogical Notes, No. 9 in
Bulletin of the Essex Institute, volume XXVI.
Currier, John J. (1896): "Ould Newbury": Historical and Biographical Sketches (Boston: Damrell and Upham), pp. 421-423
Sears, John Henry (1905): The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology of Essex County
Daniels, Elizabeth (1931): Devil's Den (
Rocks & Minerals 6:28).
Rocks & Minerals (1938): 13:183.
Bartsch, Rudolf (1941): New England Notes (
Rocks & Minerals 16:56).
Sinkankas, John (1959). Gemstones of North America, Vol. 1, p.544.
Beard, Robert (2008): Enter the Devil's Den (
Rock & Gem v. 38, no. 8).
15 entries listed. 9 valid minerals. 3 erroneous literature entries.
